Sports & recreation

Young spectator motivated to compete in Tour de Grandview

Details: While about 200 cyclists circle W. 2nd, Willard, W. 1st, and Grandview avenues, visitors
can attend the Grandview Hop from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday along Grandview Avenue for food, drinks,
shopping, live music and art. Street parties in the area will be sponsored by the Ohio Taproom.
Public biking events include a kids’ sprint (7:15 p.m., free) and a fun ride (8 p.m., $5)

Last year, Andrew Lee fell in love with bicycle racing. At the Tour de Grandview, the Upper
Arlington teenager and his mother, Kym, stood among the spectators on the sidelines, watching as
cyclists pumped past.

Andrew cycled casually in his free time but had never been in a competition or on a team. As the
cyclists sped down the streets of Grandview Heights, Andrew’s mind raced.

“That’s when all the ideas started flowing: ‘I should start a team; I should start racing,’ ”
Andrew said. “I kind of caught the bug and have never stopped loving cycling.”

Andrew, 15, will ride in his first Tour de Grandview at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. He’ll pedal around
the streets of Grandview with about 175 other cyclists.

Although Andrew is new to racing, his mother introduced him to bicycling at age 1, pulling him
around Columbus several times a week in a bike trailer. As he got older, Andrew would ride
alongside his mom on a bike.

Once he reached eighth grade, Andrew said his mother and his father, Matt, would encourage him
to ride his bike to Hastings Middle School each morning, stopping only when snow fell.

After watching the 2012 Tour de Grandview, Andrew became interested in competitive cycling and
in forming a junior-level cycling team. During spring semester, four other riders — Zach Newcome,
17; Chandler Freeman, 16; Megan Amling, 15; and Matthew Belz, 17 — joined Andrew in creating the
Upper Arlington Cycling Club.

“You basically just need two people for a team, so five is a great start,” Andrew said.

The team was sanctioned as a club sport at the high school in April. The five Upper Arlington
High School students ride and attend weekly training sessions.

The riders have spent the past month participating in timed practice, also called criterium,
races, which take place on a milelong loop around closed city streets or in parking lots.

Team 614, a Columbus-based cycling group of about 180 members that is affiliated with USA
Cycling, organizes these criterium races. Each criterium divides riders into categories to offer
closer competition.

The races are sometimes intimidating for high-school-age cyclists — most of the other riders are
older and more experienced — but Andrew said he and his team members have gleaned useful advice
from their more experienced rivals. “It can be nerve-racking, knowing that we’re making mistakes
while the adults aren’t,” he said, “but that’s better than thinking that we already know it
all."

All five members of the cycling group plan to ride in the $5 fun round of the race on Friday —
except for Andrew, who will be in the men’s category 4-5 race for beginners. (Competition is broken
into five men’s and five women’s categories.) The team will wear gold and black jerseys — the
colors of Upper Arlington High School.

Andrew has also joined Team 614. A handful of riders from other Columbus-area high schools dot
the roster, his mother said. The Lees have been urging the students to create their own high-school
teams.

Andrew’s goal for the Tour de Grandview is to start making a bid to qualify for higher
categories.

“I have no fear of putting myself in a race and just going,” he said. “Each time I race, I try
to better myself. I want to progress to (category) 4 and work my way up the ladder.”